What Is Halloumi Cheese and Easy methods to Cook dinner It

There are many dishes tailored for gooey, melty cheese: stretched and pulled in grilled cheese sandwiches, effervescent and blistering in a cozy baked ziti, or oozing out of a bean-and-cheese pupusa. However on the subject of Halloumi, the large attraction is that the cheese doesn’t soften. As an alternative, it holds its form and dramatically browns when cooked, making it nice for grilling, roasting, and searing in a pan.

Past its heat-resistant qualities, Halloumi cheese is price protecting round for loads of causes, from its semi-hard texture to its wealthy, salty taste. It could level up salads, flip heads on the barbecue, and add a punch of protein to quick dinners.

Learn on for methods to get probably the most out of this versatile cheese.

Halloumi is a white-beige cheese that’s nearly rubbery when chilly. Not like semi-soft cheeses like queso Oaxaca or mozzarella, Halloumi is generally uniform in texture all through. Biting into the cheese, it’s bouncy and squeaky, akin to cheddar cheese curds however barely denser. It’s a younger cheese (i.e., not aged like Parmesan) with a creamy taste and a briny saltiness.

Halloumi cheese originated in Cyprus and seems in other Mediterranean cuisines as properly. It’s usually made with sheep’s milk or goat’s milk, although cow’s milk can also be widespread. Like most cheese produced in Western cultures, Halloumi is made by curdling milk with rennet, straining out the curds, and urgent them into clumps. Halloumi is then cooked in nearly boiling whey, the place it types into dense blocks. That is the stage that units Halloumi aside and provides the cheese its most spectacular high quality: Because it forms at high heat, Halloumi doesn’t soften at excessive temperatures after it’s cooled. Which means you possibly can prepare dinner Halloumi in a pan and it gained’t soften like Muenster or American cheese. Even fried Halloumi is feasible—a wonderful factor.

Are there substitutes for Halloumi cheese?

Halloumi is broadly obtainable in supermarkets—search for it subsequent to the brined cheeses like feta. It’s a reasonably distinctive ingredient, but it surely’s definitely not the one grilling cheese on the market. Juustoleipä, a Scandinavian cheese cheekily often called “bread cheese,” can even maintain as much as grilling and browns equally to Halloumi. Indian paneer additionally doesn’t soften at excessive temperatures, which permits it to stay intact in sauces, in addition to crisp up when grilled, like on this recipe for Ajwaini Paneer Tikka Skewers.

How can I prepare dinner Halloumi cheese?

Whereas it may be eaten uncooked, Halloumi’s most important draw for a lot of is that it may be seared, roasted, or in any other case browned whereas sustaining its construction. You’ll often see the cheese served by itself on Mediterranean and Center Jap menus, cubed up and nestled in mezze spreads, or wrapped up in pita sandwiches.

In the summertime, it makes an ideal vegetarian protein for grilling. Working example: this Halloumi burger recipe, the place a slab of the cheese stands in for a beef or bean patty alongside a hunk of grilled summer season squash. It additionally pairs properly with fruit—which may help neutralize its excessive salinity—like on this Halloumi Saganaki recipe from chef Yasmin Khan. Hunks of the cheese are topped off with honey, thyme, figs, and pomegranate seeds for a pop of acidity. Its squeaky texture additionally holds up properly in opposition to different bouncy meals, like in these blistered rice cakes with gochujang-spiked brown butter.

For a extra hands-off path to crisped-up Halloumi, do that sheet-pan salad from senior cooking editor Emma Laperruque. The recipe has you roast torn chunks of Halloumi, so the ripped, craggy edges flip crispy and golden whereas the interiors stay bouncy and agency. Toss these tacky nuggets with herbs, citrus, jalapeños, and shallots, and you’ve got a brilliant and hearty meal.

Easy methods to retailer Halloumi cheese

It is best to retailer Halloumi cheese within the fridge, the place it may final for months when left unopened (simply test the expiration date on the package deal). When you’ve eliminated the cheese from its wrapper, you possibly can both wrap the leftover Halloumi tightly in plastic or place in a saltwater tub inside an hermetic container. Both of those strategies ought to hold the cheese contemporary for a pair weeks, providing you with loads of time to fire up the grill or activate the oven for crispy, golden-brown, tacky bliss.